Bellingham teen arrested on suspicion of attempted murder will be tried as adult

BELLINGHAM - A 16-year-old boy accused of forcing his way into a home and beating a mother unconscious will be tried as an adult on an attempted murder charge.

Jacob Allen Carmickle pushed his way into a St. Clair Street home early Saturday, Jan. 11, high on hallucinogenic mushrooms and marijuana, according to police. Detectives say Carmickle beat, choked and left for dead a 44-year-old resident of the home.

Shortly before that, officers were called at 4:14 a.m. to the Barkley Haggen, 2900 Woburn St., for a young man, wearing no shirt and no shoes, screaming in the store. Police responded, but the teenager couldn't be found.

Detectives now believe he walked about a half-mile northeast and pounded on the door of a gray-green two-story house on St. Clair. The resident heard high-pitched screaming, a voice that sounded female, and cracked her door to see if someone needed help, Lt. Rick Sucee said.

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A shirtless, shoeless boy pushed in the door. He made a run for the second floor, where the woman's young child sleeps. She tried to stop him on the stairs, Sucee said, but he fought back and they tumbled down the steps. He slammed her head down many times on the floor and choked her with an object - it may have been a sprayer from the sink, but police aren't sure, Sucee said - until she passed out.

Later, Carmickle told police he thought the woman had died. But soon after he fled, she woke up. She called police at 4:33 a.m. The woman had serious injuries to her head and face. She was treated at St. Joseph hospital. On Monday afternoon, a hospital spokeswoman declined to give a condition update, but the victim is expected to survive.

She gave a clear description of the attacker, Sucee said. And outside her home, officers found Carmickle's khaki pants. His wallet and ID were inside.

Officers believe he'd stripped and walked part of the way home naked, covered in blood. Someone, likely a stranger, picked him up and gave him a ride to his home in the 2200 block of Yew Street Road, Sucee said. Police have not released more details about the driver.

Carmickle was in bed, still caked in blood, at 6:30 a.m. when police came knocking at his home about 4 miles south of the crime scene. He seemed lucid but had been high, he told officers, on marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Officers booked him into Whatcom County Juvenile Detention on suspicion of attempted second-degree murder and first-degree burglary.

Carmickle made his first appearance in court Monday afternoon. Prosecutor Dave McEachran chose to file criminal charges in Whatcom County Superior Court rather than juvenile court due to their severity. Commissioner David M. Thorn set bail at $1 million. An arraignment hearing has been scheduled for Friday morning, Jan. 24.

The Bellingham Herald names minors charged as adults in a court of law.